In some home appliances it is desirable to insure that the appliance operates only when the door is tightly closed. This is commonly accomplished by providing a normally open switch and a switch actuating member in combination such that the actuating member engages and closes the switch only when the door is tightly closed. Spacing tolerances between the switch and the actuating member become particularly critical for appliances such as dishwashers because, if the switch is engaged before the door is completely closed or fails to disengage before the door is partially opened, hot water may spray out around the door. Alternatively, the switch may not be engaged even though the door is tightly closed in which case the appliance will not operate at all. Thus, it is desirable to provide an inexpensive switch which will reliably enable appliance operation only when the door is tightly closed without requiring a precision switch with the attendant tighter manufacturing tolerances and increased cost.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a relatively simple, reliable and inexpensive interlock switch.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a relatively simple, reliable, inexpensive interlock switch without requiring unduly restrictive manufacturing tolerances in the manufacture of the switch and the assembly of the switch and latch combination with attendant increased manufacturing costs.